AREC praises new Experimental Laboratory

Students attending opening of SHEL in Symons Hall

April 30, 2018

On April 16, AREC celebrated the opening of the Symons Hall Experimental Laboratory (SHEL), located in room 0115.

The event took place from 10 to 11 am in the laboratory. The director of the lab, Professor Neslihan Uler, spoke about the goals of the facility alongside Professor Kenneth Leonard and lab manager John Jensenius. Uler explained that the experiments conducted in the laboratory will help us understand how individuals make decisions in a variety of settings.

A representative from the Environmental Science and Policy program, staff from the Pre-Awards Services Office of AGNR and the staff development coordinator all attended the event. AREC graduate students were also invited to the event, where they could interact with the labs computers and learn about the experimental economics possibilities of the lab.During the presentation, Jensenius conducted a brief demonstration experiment regarding commercial fishing and catch limits that addressed concerns about overfishing. Through the experiment, Jensenius was able to measure a person’s decision making process.

“The undergraduate students at UMD are prime candidates for participating in activities at the SHEL,” said Leonard. “They're well educated and they're from all walks of life. Considering that they are here on campus all the time, it will be convenient for them to drop in to Symons Hall, which is centrally located.”

The lab is currently seeking participants for future economic experiments. Participants receive monetary compensation based on the decisions they make in the experiment. These experiments are usually one to two hours long, and payments typically range from $7 to $25 or more. Participants must be University of Maryland students over the age of 18. For more information, please visit https://shel.arec.umd.edu/participate